Reducing discrimination against job seekers with and without employment gaps
Kristal, AS; Nicks, L; Gloor, JL; et al.Hauser, OP
Date: 5 December 2022
Article
Journal
Nature Human Behaviour
Publisher
Nature Research
Publisher DOI
Abstract
Past research shows that decision-makers discriminate against applicants with career breaks.
Career breaks are common due to caring responsibilities, especially for working mothers, thereby
leaving job seekers with employment gaps on their résumés. In a pre-registered audit field
experiment in the United Kingdom (N = 9,022), we show ...
Past research shows that decision-makers discriminate against applicants with career breaks.
Career breaks are common due to caring responsibilities, especially for working mothers, thereby
leaving job seekers with employment gaps on their résumés. In a pre-registered audit field
experiment in the United Kingdom (N = 9,022), we show that rewriting a résumé so that
previously held jobs are listed with the number of years worked (instead of employment dates)
increases callbacks from real employers compared to résumés without employment gaps by
approximately 8%. A series of lab studies (an online pilot and two pre-registered experiments; N
= 2,650) shows this effect holds for both female and male applicants—even when compared to
applicants without employment gaps—as well as for applicants with less and more total job
experience. The effect is driven by making the applicant’s job experience salient, not as a result
of novelty or ease of reading.
Economics
Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy
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